It's careers Q&A day where we give you some personal attention by answering your questions.
Today's question comes from Natalie, who works in talent development at a mid-size professional services firm: "What do you think makes a great careers week, and what can we skip?"
What we cover:
- A great careers week isn't just about visibility — it's about helping people work out the path from where they are to where they want to be, including how to transfer their skills across the organisation.
- Employees today aren't asking "how do I get promoted?" — they're asking "how do I stay relevant, evolve here, and what can I try so I don't have to leave?" If careers week doesn't address those questions, it risks becoming a performance rather than a turning point.
- Start with self-discovery before you start showcasing. A reflection session with a simple framework — what am I designed for, what do I want more or less of, what environments suit me? — gives people the anchoring they need to engage meaningfully with everything else.
- Platform real journeys, not just polished ones. Brief your speakers to talk about lateral moves, moments of doubt, and the messy middle. That's what makes stories relatable and memorable.
- Interactivity matters. Live career mapping workshops, ask-me-anything sessions, skills tasters, round tables, and rapid networking all help the week stick beyond the five days.
- Skip the over-engineered keynote speakers, generic non-interactive lectures, and frictionless success stories. If content can live in a library, put it there — don't make it a live session.
- Before you book a single speaker, answer this first: what do we want people to think, feel, and do differently as a result? Clarity of intention shapes everything. It's not about quantity — it's about clarity, visibility, and momentum.
Send your questions: Email or voicenote to pod@thecareerequation.com — audio messages especially welcome.
Links:
Career Conversations Guide: https://www.thecareerequation.com/career-conversations-guide
Book an intro call: https://www.thecareerequation.com/book-intro-call
Erica on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/ericasosna
Zoë on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/zoeschofieldcoach
